I’ve been cleaning all day. Well, the last few hours to be completely truthful. It just feels like all day. I love to clean, but not when I have to and don’t feel like it. Like today.

We have a little Airbnb and when it's time to "flip" it for a new guest, we do our own cleaning. As I’ve been scooping stranger’s hair out of the sink and shower, and trying to get stains out of the upholstery I can’t help but remember a friend of mine. He was an accomplished guest artist I used to bring in to teach at the college where I used to work. His visits, along with his equally accomplished wife, were eagerly awaited by my students and the cleaning staff at the guest house where I would put them up. Odd, I know. The staff would ask me when this couple would be returning whenever I happened to see them around campus. I soon found out why. My friend made it a habit to clean their room, wash the sheets  and vacuum even, before leaving. And he didn't just do it once; he did it four years in row.

The housekeeping staff told me that, after he was done, the room was cleaner than when they cleaned it. If all the guests did that, they would tell me, they'd be out of a job! I told them not to worry, there weren't many like him . . .  
As a housekeeper myself now, I know that even folks who leave things in good shape, never leave them better than they found them. It makes me wonder about my friend. When I would ask him why he took so much time and trouble to clean the way he did, he would laugh and say, “They shouldn’t clean up after me. That’s my job.” His wife assured me that he did the same thing (minus the sheets and vacuuming), in every hotel they stayed in. It was just who he was.

I recently read a book by an Admiral in which he encourages the reader to “make your bed every morning.” And to do it right. He says that it proves to others and to yourself that you value order and cleanliness, and that you have the discipline to follow through. When I read that,  my friend’s cleaning habit suddenly made perfect sense.

It’s fine to say you like things clean or orderly, that you value other people's time, and respect them. It’s quite another to actually follow through with the hard work involved in proving you mean it. I imagine it  also helps later on in your life, when something even harder comes up. There's a place deep down inside that tells you, "You can do this. You've done the hard, nasty  stuff before." That’s a wonderful feeling. A feeling  we are rarely encouraged to sacrifice for these days in this era of being told we should do whatever we feel like doing.

So, I will finish this essay and get back to the rest of the necessary cleaning (the stuff I've been avoiding) with my friend and Admiral McRaven's example in mind.

I’d send him Admiral Mc Raven's book, ( Make Your Bed) but it would be a waste of postage. There's nothing in it he doesn't already do.

‍